Agora Gallery to Feature Work from ART START Student Jamai

Chelsea’s Agora Gallery announced today that in addition to holding an exhibition for the selected artists of the 2009 Chelsea International Fine Art Competition, they would feature work from Jamai, a student from New York’s ART START program.

Agora Gallery currently supports ART START, a non-profit organization that brings together art, artists and children in need throughout the New York Metropolitan area, by donating 25% of its proceeds from the sale of artwork from the Competition exhibition. Now, they have taken further steps to tie the program together with the exhibition by featuring work from an ART START student.

Through ART START, Jamai was paired with Vané Russo, a volunteer artist who has been privately mentoring the young artist for the past year. As an apprentice, Jamai meets with Vané in her Brooklyn studio about 5 hours a week.

“Jamai is a very talented young artist with a bright future ahead of her,” commented Angela Di Bello, Director of Agora Gallery. “I’m thrilled to include her work among such a remarkable display of talent.”

“The fact that my art work was chosen for this exhibition is an honor,” said Jamai. “The piece I selected to display in Agora Gallery, "Complications of the Mind," was my first attempt at the wood carving method. As an artist, I think that the process is more valuable than the final product, and being the perfectionist that I am, that is never easy.”

Artist Statement:
I moved to New York from Jamaica at age 14. Color was my way of learning about life. For example, when I cooked, the colors of the ingredients had to match for a successful taste. Being brought up by my father who could make anything out of nothing, he supplied me with all the materials I needed to create. In Jamaica, as a pastime I would write my friend's names in bubble letters. Little did I know that it was a style of Graffiti art, which I found out once I moved to New York given that it was all around me. After that and interacting with actual Graffiti artists, I became aware of the never-ending controversy of Graffiti: is it vandalism or art? Being very attracted to this medium, I couldn't decide which building to put my art upon, so I went the non-traditional way: canvas and paper.

About Agora Gallery:
Agora Gallery is a fine art gallery located in the heart of New York City’s Chelsea art galleries district that was established in 1984 and is famous for showcasing a spectacular array of talented artists from around the world and around the corner, while providing quality and original art to collectors. The gallery also publishes ARTisSpectrum Magazine, a bi-annual magazine that is distributed to museums, galleries, art institutions and art schools around the world. It provides artists, collectors, museums, galleries, art organizations and enthusiasts with access to the work of internationally talented emerging and mid-level artists as well as feature articles, reviews and interviews. Agora Gallery is also the sponsor of Art-Mine.com, one of the most comprehensive resources available worldwide to view and purchase fine art from emerging, mid-level and well-established artists. Most recently, the gallery launched http://agoraartgalleryblog.com, a blog designed to provide helpful information and advice for artists while providing a forum for artists to help one another by sharing their experiences and thoughts.

About ART START:
Because every kid has something to say. Since 1991, Art Start has been providing free arts programs for some of New York City’s most at-risk youth. Through workshops in painting, photography, music and creative writing, we replace uncertainty and frustration in their lives with structure and hope. Above all, we provide them with genuine opportunities to change their worlds, and ours, for the better. To learn how you can become a part of Art Start or to contribute, visit http://www.art-start.org

Laurie Ben-Haim
Agora Gallery
530 West 25th St.
New York, NY 10001

This release was published on openPR.